Fictional League Enjoyment Level - Page 3

battists · 03-26-2007, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curtis

Best post of the day!

Well, it's 'wrong' because I don't know how to do that. I'm not even sure what it means. If you want to go into that any further, it should probably be in a PM, so as not to untrack this thread any more than I already have.

I'll bet tycobbler could help you to, see his sticky thread in this forum!

Simmo13 · 03-26-2007, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Queensryche

I guess it's not mainly the actual names,it's really more the nicknames that get in the way. By themselves,the names would probably be passable,but with all these "Twinkle Toes" and other stupid nicknames getting in the way,it becomes ridiculous. I wish there was a way to disable nicknames all together.

Surely George Selkirk's nickname was "Twinkletoes" and Hall of Famer Joe Medwick was certainly "Ducky Wucky" not to mention my two favourite nicknames from an earlier period "Death to Flying Things" and "The Freshest Man on Earth".
As is so often the case OOTP imitates life in a most entertaining way

SlyBelle · 03-26-2007, 07:32 PM

I would personally like to use fictional players as well, but the only thing that holds me back is not having any past history for the players. It would be an awesome feature if you could generate a fictional universe but have it come loaded with a complete history of player stats, HOF, etc. Just doesn't seem right when looking at a player card and they have been in the league for 10 years, but no stats to go along with it.

I'm sure plenty of folks don't care about this, its just something I can't get into myself. Either way, this year's version is probably the best I've played and look forward to getting into my season.

Erik W. · 03-26-2007, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlyBelle

I would personally like to use fictional players as well, but the only thing that holds me back is not having any past history for the players. It would be an awesome feature if you could generate a fictional universe but have it come loaded with a complete history of player stats, HOF, etc. Just doesn't seem right when looking at a player card and they have been in the league for 10 years, but no stats to go along with it.

I'm sure plenty of folks don't care about this, its just something I can't get into myself. Either way, this year's version is probably the best I've played and look forward to getting into my season.

There are some of us who do want what you just described, but I think the answer has always been that we could just sim out a history before actively participating in the league.

battists · 03-26-2007, 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlyBelle

I would personally like to use fictional players as well, but the only thing that holds me back is not having any past history for the players. It would be an awesome feature if you could generate a fictional universe but have it come loaded with a complete history of player stats, HOF, etc. Just doesn't seem right when looking at a player card and they have been in the league for 10 years, but no stats to go along with it.

I'm sure plenty of folks don't care about this, its just something I can't get into myself. Either way, this year's version is probably the best I've played and look forward to getting into my season.

What a lot of people do in this case is to start a fictional league, then set it to simming 20 years or so. Then, you can use the league tools to release all of the players into a new inaugural draft, or simply take over one of the teams.

Presto, 20 years of history, and all it took was leaving your computer alone overnight or something.

Amazin' Blue · 03-26-2007, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by battists

What a lot of people do in this case is to start a fictional league, then set it to simming 20 years or so. Then, you can use the league tools to release all of the players into a new inaugural draft, or simply take over one of the teams.

Presto, 20 years of history, and all it took was leaving your computer alone overnight or something.

I've never liked doing this because I feel like I don't know what's going on with my team. Can't believe I never thought to release the players and have an inaugural draft. Doh.

I kinda wanna do that right now actually, too bad I'm so invested in my current fictional league. I can't have two lovers.

Dogzilla · 03-26-2007, 08:21 PM

I always play fictional, although I do tweak the name files a bit. If I want to know how the real players are doing, I'll turn on ESPN.

The Wolf · 03-26-2007, 09:18 PM

I don't do fictional, but why couldn't fictional players try starting their fictional universe in 1901 and then just sim it for eighty or ninety years. Then they could finally step in and take over a team in a league which had a solid league history.

The Wolf · 03-26-2007, 09:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikev

The beauty of it: You can edit names.

The other beauty of it: on the player editor page you can REGENERATE a player's name with just the push of a button. Got a player with a goofy name? Click. Not just right yet? Click. Still too weird? Click. Ah, just right.

Kyros · 03-26-2007, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaitiaki

I much prefer fictional players to "real" rosters. Fewer preconceptions about how players "should" perform, and more flexibility to create a game world that I want to play in.

- Kai

This is how I feel exactly.

CMH · 03-26-2007, 09:36 PM

I haven't played with fictional leagues. Always used real rosters. But, the best time I had with real rosters was back in OOTP4. That league lasted about 50 years and two iterations of OOTP (all the way to OOTP6). I still remember some of the great fictional players that were generated in the draft. Ben Cooper is still my favorite. Hard slugging 2B that couldn't field, but damn could he hit a ball. A .320, 40 HR guy every season with a great eye. I might still have the almanac to that league. It ended only because the league crashed one season into OOTP6. I didn't want to replay the past season so I scrapped it. I haven't played OOTP the same since.

I wanted to start up a fictional league in OOTP2006, but when I discovered I couldn't add/delete leagues my dream was crushed. It's the main reason 2006 didn't get much playing time.

2007 will be different. I'm in the beginning stages of creating my fictional universe starting in 1897 with a small 8-team league in the New York City area. I'm going to design my own logos and then begin the draft. I'll have a Dynasty Report to go with it if anyone cares to follow.

It's why I still say that adding/delete leagues is the best feature in 2007. FaceGen is second.

Curtis · 03-26-2007, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Wolf

Why couldn't fictional players try starting their fictional universe in 1901 and then just sim it for eighty or ninety years. Then they could finally step in and take over a team in a league which had a solid league history.

I'm sure this applies to almost no one else, but my machine won't sim. That aside, I don't feel a great need for a league history, solid or otherwise.

rocketeer928 · 03-27-2007, 02:14 AM

I prefer fictional players. How else could I create Roy Hobbs in RF and my grampa Duffy Mott as the leagues premier starting pitcher on my team?

rocketeer928 · 03-27-2007, 02:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erik W.

This guy wants to have a word with you.

Very funny post. I'm still chuckling.

endgame · 03-27-2007, 02:30 AM

I have always preferred the fictional world to the...I mean, fictional players to real ones. Since Markus enabled the function, in addition, I also begin all players with no history, career stats, or service time. They are brand new creatures waiting to create history.

Curtis, what do you mean your machine doesn't sim?

Curtis · 03-27-2007, 03:21 AM

I haven't tried in 2007, but in 2006 everytime I tried to sim a week, a month, or to a particular date, the game would advance one day, then kick back out into 'real time'.

ctorg · 03-27-2007, 07:52 AM

I think OOTP, from the very beginning, has been optimized for fictional play. Even with the great new additions for historical play in the latest version, at its heart the game is a simulator of baseball in general, not of baseball history. It is interesting to use it to play out an alternate history with real player names, but some of the best things about the game (player development curves, now facegen, ability to manipulate leagues into odd configurations, etc.) are not used much at all or even become problematic (particularly the development curves - this has been taken care of by the ratings recalculation feature).

While it's not everyone's love, I think you can get the most use of the most features that make the game top-notch by playing out a fictional universe.

RonCo · 03-27-2007, 08:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BruceM

Not true for historical leagues......

With recalc you get closer to non-fictional. Leaving recalc off your players are fictional within weeks...which is interesting to some folks in a totally different way and bothersome to others.

I love the entire history of baseball and all that. But personally, I've never quite understood the great love for historical simming--that's what the record books are for in my mind. I have no interest in a program that pits Joe Dimaggio against Sandy Koufax, nor do I have interest in redoing any particular season. (But I'm glad there are folks who get their kicks that way!)

To me, the whole purpose of a game like OOTP, or at least the place it really shines, is in the realm of fictional career management. But I'm weird, I guess. For example, I cant really understand why folks get excited about Fantasy/Roto baseball anymore. I was huge into it in the 1980-1990s but it completely loses out to the computer sim world when it comes to managing a baseball franchise. As soon as I found OOTP, I quit Rotisserie ball pretty much cold turkey.

Different strokes, I guess.

RonCo · 03-27-2007, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctorg

I think OOTP, from the very beginning, has been optimized for fictional play. Even with the great new additions for historical play in the latest version, at its heart the game is a simulator of baseball in general, not of baseball history. It is interesting to use it to play out an alternate history with real player names, but some of the best things about the game (player development curves, now facegen, ability to manipulate leagues into odd configurations, etc.) are not used much at all or even become problematic (particularly the development curves - this has been taken care of by the ratings recalculation feature).

While it's not everyone's love, I think you can get the most use of the most features that make the game top-notch by playing out a fictional universe.

I think this is all true. I'm glad historical simmers are getting what they want out of the game, but OOTP's heart lies in its development and GM model. Recalc removes the bulk of the imact of the development system--which is good for historical simmers. Other tweaks seem necessary to support historical GMing, including a lot more work on the rules environment. But really, I don't think most historical simmers are trying to recreate what it was like to be a GM in the 1920s, for example. So both the dev model and GM model are generally distractions or problems for the historical simmer to work around.

The Wolf · 03-27-2007, 09:07 AM

And the moral is: do only historical gaming and don't have all these problems.

03-27-2007, 02:14 AM	#53
rocketeer928 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Western Connecticut Posts: 82	I prefer fictional players. How else could I create Roy Hobbs in RF and my grampa Duffy Mott as the leagues premier starting pitcher on my team? __________________ rocketeer928

03-27-2007, 02:30 AM	#55
endgame Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 16,842	I have always preferred the fictional world to the...I mean, fictional players to real ones. Since Markus enabled the function, in addition, I also begin all players with no history, career stats, or service time. They are brand new creatures waiting to create history. Curtis, what do you mean your machine doesn't sim? __________________ "Try again. Fail again. Fail better." -- Samuel Beckett _____________________________________________

03-27-2007, 07:52 AM	#57
ctorg Global Moderator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Queens, NY Posts: 9,848	I think OOTP, from the very beginning, has been optimized for fictional play. Even with the great new additions for historical play in the latest version, at its heart the game is a simulator of baseball in general, not of baseball history. It is interesting to use it to play out an alternate history with real player names, but some of the best things about the game (player development curves, now facegen, ability to manipulate leagues into odd configurations, etc.) are not used much at all or even become problematic (particularly the development curves - this has been taken care of by the ratings recalculation feature). While it's not everyone's love, I think you can get the most use of the most features that make the game top-notch by playing out a fictional universe. __________________ My music "When the trees blow back and forth, that's what makes the wind." - Steven Wright Fjord emena pancreas thorax fornicate marmalade morpheme proteolysis smaxa cabana offal srue vitriol grope hallelujah lentils

03-26-2007, 07:32 PM	#43
SlyBelle All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 631	I would personally like to use fictional players as well, but the only thing that holds me back is not having any past history for the players. It would be an awesome feature if you could generate a fictional universe but have it come loaded with a complete history of player stats, HOF, etc. Just doesn't seem right when looking at a player card and they have been in the league for 10 years, but no stats to go along with it. I'm sure plenty of folks don't care about this, its just something I can't get into myself. Either way, this year's version is probably the best I've played and look forward to getting into my season.

03-26-2007, 08:21 PM	#47
Dogzilla Major Leagues Join Date: May 2004 Location: Colorado USA Posts: 421	I always play fictional, although I do tweak the name files a bit. If I want to know how the real players are doing, I'll turn on ESPN.

03-26-2007, 09:36 PM	#51
CMH Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5,057	I haven't played with fictional leagues. Always used real rosters. But, the best time I had with real rosters was back in OOTP4. That league lasted about 50 years and two iterations of OOTP (all the way to OOTP6). I still remember some of the great fictional players that were generated in the draft. Ben Cooper is still my favorite. Hard slugging 2B that couldn't field, but damn could he hit a ball. A .320, 40 HR guy every season with a great eye. I might still have the almanac to that league. It ended only because the league crashed one season into OOTP6. I didn't want to replay the past season so I scrapped it. I haven't played OOTP the same since. I wanted to start up a fictional league in OOTP2006, but when I discovered I couldn't add/delete leagues my dream was crushed. It's the main reason 2006 didn't get much playing time. 2007 will be different. I'm in the beginning stages of creating my fictional universe starting in 1897 with a small 8-team league in the New York City area. I'm going to design my own logos and then begin the draft. I'll have a Dynasty Report to go with it if anyone cares to follow. It's why I still say that adding/delete leagues is the best feature in 2007. FaceGen is second.

03-27-2007, 03:21 AM	#56
Curtis Hall Of Famer Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Watertown, New York Posts: 4,567	I haven't tried in 2007, but in 2006 everytime I tried to sim a week, a month, or to a particular date, the game would advance one day, then kick back out into 'real time'.